This article provides an overview of the Invisalign® orthodontic system for the treatment of skew, crooked, overcrowded and poorly occluding teeth.
I come from an era when skew, crooked, over-crowded or mal-occluded (poorly fitting) teeth were dealt with by traditional orthodontic braces. You would go to a qualified Corona Del Mar dentist totally ignorant of, or even mildly excited (as I was) for the orthodontic treatment you were about to receive. What this turned out to be was 18 torturous months of being called “brace face” by your brother and a painful abstinence from sticky sweets and buttered popcorn.
Traditional Orthodontic Braces: A Pain in the Face
You don’t need to have worn traditional braces to be able to sympathize with those who did. It’s painful, it’s uncomfortable and it’s really unattractive. As a teenager, wearing braces will get you a lot of attention from the opposite sex, but for all the wrong reasons. The only mercy is that many Corona Del Mar residents have their orthodontic problems taken care of at an age when they either don’t care about what the opposite sex thinks, or they have many years’ worth of maturing left during which their egos can recover. Adults requiring orthodontic treatment were not so lucky.
Thankfully, ultimate respite comes in the form of a revolutionary technology that is helping many Corona Del Mar teenagers and adults alike receive fantastic treatment for a suite of orthodontic maladies and abnormalities. It’s aptly called Invisalign®!>
Revolutionary Invisalign® Orthodontic Treatment
Invisalign® is the 21st Century orthodontic treatment for teeth that are skew, crooked, over-crowded or have large gaps between them or for jaws (bites) that are badly aligned. In other words, the Invisalign® system can be used to treat most of the common orthodontic problems affecting Corona Del Mar residents, provided the patient’s jawbone has fully matured and all of their adult teeth have emerged.
How Does Invisalign® Work?
The Invisalign® system consists of a series of clear, and so virtually invisible, aligners (see image below) that are custom made for you by your Corona Del Mar dentist to fit over your teeth. Using some pretty sophisticated computer software, your dentist will fabricate you a series of translucent aligners that are designed to slowly and gradually force your teeth into better positions. You’ll notice this when you put your first Invisalign® aligner into your mouth: while it fits over your teeth, it doesn’t quite fit right. The pressure you feel on your teeth is the aligner moving them into their rightful positions.
What is the Treatment Time for Invisalign®?
You’ll wear one aligner for 23 hours every day and for a period of two weeks before changing to the next aligner in the series. You only ever take your Invisalign® aligners out for eating and cleaning and if this takes you longer than one hour per day, you’re spending too much time eating. After six weeks of treatment, your Corona Del Mar dentist will take a look at your progress and advise you accordingly.
While the total treatment time Invisalign® requires for satisfactory and permanent results is approximately the same as it is for traditional orthodontic braces, you:
• Will only require a dental check-up every six weeks, as opposed to every two weeks. This saves you money.
• Won’t experience the social embarrassment caused by having a mouth full of metal brackets and wires. This saves you face.
• Can enjoy a far more comfortable orthodontic transformation with none of the pain and ulceration caused by jagged metal bits and brackets. This saves your close relationships.
• Will be less of a walking human lighting conductor, which is great news for residents of the Midwest. This could save your life.
A Final Note on Invisalign®
So, if your teeth could benefit from orthodontic treatment – which is as important for cosmetics as it is for the longevity of your teeth and their optimal functioning – you might want to speak to your dentist about the fabulous breakthrough known as Invisalign® in Corona Del Mar!